"miami florida" a Miami Travel Page by doug48

the area around modern day miami was originally inhabited by the tequesta native american tribe about 1,000 years ago. the miami area was claimed for spain in 1566 by pedro menendez de aviles. spanish florida was ceded to the united states in 1822 and in 1836 the u.s. army built fort dallas on the site of present day miami. after the second seminole war fort dallas was abandoned and a village near the fort was founded by william h. english. english named the settlement miami. the town of miami was incorporated in 1896 and it had a population of 400 people. today the population of the miami metropolitian area is 5.4 million. at the turn of the 20 th century henry flagler's florida east coast railroad came to miami which had a significant effect of maimi's develpment and economy. miami prospered until the end of the 1920's land boom and the outset of the great depression. miami's economy recovered during WWII when it became an important anti-submarine base. in the 1950's and 1960's miami's population grew and miami beach became a famous tourist destination. during this period famous entertainers of the time would perform at miami beach's new high rise hotels. the culture and population of miami greatly changed after fidel castro's cuban revolution in 1959. wealthy and educated cubans fled cuba during the revolution and settled in miami. these original cuban refugees are now important players in miami's politics and business. after the cubans many immigrants from the caribbean, and south and central america migrated to miami. today miami is a multicultural city that is dominated by hispanic and caribbean immigrants. the city of miami is considered a multicultural mosaic as compared to a "melting pot". miami now is a collection of neighborhoods such as little havana, little, haiti, little san jaun, little managua etc. miami also has enclaves of french, french canadians, germans, italians, jews, and russians. this multicultural mosaic makes miami one of the most unusual and interesting cities in america.

for the tourist maimi has much to offer. miami has beautiful beaches, world class shopping and dining. for the sports fan miami is home to the miami dolpins NFL team, the maimi heat NBA team, the florida panthers NHL team, the miami marlins MLB team, and the university of miami college football team. miami is also home to numerous world class golf courses and excellent off shore salt water fishing. near the city of miami is the everglades national park and the florida keys. miami is a very unusual and interesting city to visit in florida.